PrincessLeia

It's not what you think. It's much worse. Apparently, a Lucasfilm representative at C2E2 confirmed that the company will be making another 'Star Wars' animated series that will serve as a sequel to 'Return of the Jedi' and feature all the original characters from the first trilogy. It will be in the same computer animated format as the current 'Clone Wars' series on Cartoon Network.

Anybody who reads the original novels that serve as a sequel to the original trilogy is in for a nasty shock. Lucas has a tendency to ignore concepts that he himself didn't originate that actually enhance his franchise. It's likely that any new series will render those novels as moot as 'Galactica 1980.'

A long time ago (well, 31 years ago) in a galaxy far, far away (Television City isn't technically a different galaxy, unless you consider TV producers to be people who don't spend much time on planet Earth), an evil was unleashed upon the human race.

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, a Christmas not-so-spectacular roasted by critics including some here at TV Squad years after it hit the air and even some of the franchise's most ardent fans.

That also includes George Lucas who once remarked at an Australian convention that he wished he could buy up all of the world's remaining copies of the show and smash them into oblivion with a sledgehammer. I wonder if 31 years from now, he'll be saying the same thing about Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace?

Ever notice how goofy celebrities seem to gravitate towards each other? Ok, me either, but maybe that's because most celebrities are goofy in one way or another.

Got a note from CBS tonight with a fun little advance tidbit from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Carrie Fisher tells a story about her brush with Michael Jackson, who was laid to rest today.

"They came to me to go on a travel junket for talking about Michael (Jackson), because I was with him on his last Christmas," the actress tells Ferguson. "It was fantastic. He had a big tree, and I did the Princess Leia monologue for his children. Yeah, I got paid. No, no, I got paid nothing. But I got a lot of it, and also he got me a cell phone."

Where would we be without the hallowed television Christmas special? We would be engaged in enthralling conversations with relatives who like to give the backstory about the gall bladder operation pictures they still carry in their wallet. We would be playing defense against every breakable item in the house while the neighbor's kids get enough sugar in their systems to power the Space Shuttle. We would not only have to muster the courage to taste Grandma's homemade rum and Kahula fruitcake, but also to pretend that we like it without our stomach turning inside out, crawling up our esophagus and out of our mouth.

Even if those scenarios will be true for you on Dec. 25, I offer you my pity as my Christmas gift. Plus, you still would rather spend it listening to ol' Uncle Hernia Scar than watching one of these holiday hams.